Industrial Engineering & Management

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have been known for their extraordinary electrical and magnetic properties. In the present study, some transition metal oxides (Zinc oxide, iron oxide and copper oxide) which are widely used in the fabrication of electronic devices were selected and subjected to biofield treatment. The atomic and crystal structures of TMOs were carefully studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. XRD analysis reveals that biofield treatment significantly changed the lattice strain in unit cells, crystallite sizes and densities in ceramics oxide powders. The computed molecular weight of the treated samples exhibited significant variation. FT-IR spectra indicated that biofield treatment has altered the metal-oxygen bond strength. Since biofield treatment significantly altered the crystallite size, lattice strain and bond strength, we postulate that electrical and magnetic properties in TMOs (transition metal oxides) can be modulated by biofield treatment.

Over the decade, there has been increasing interest in the leaner and more responsive operations along with reduction in Cycle time to improve performance across the entire business network. “Process Improvement” means making things better. However, when we engage in true process improvement, we seek to learn what causes things to happen in a process and to use better technology to reduce product variation, remove activities that contribute no value to the product or service produced, and improve customer satisfaction. To examine all of the factors affecting the process in related with men, machine and materials are main responsible for the transformation of materials in to a product or service. Lean manufacturing is originated and developed in Japan which is considered as a business strategy to reduce and eliminate wastes occurred during manufacturing process, thus it leads to improve the productivity by giving quality products with higher accuracy especially for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) To implementing lean approach, VSM (value stream mapping) and kaizen principles are most effective in nature among all other lean practices. In this research work, a case study on implementing VSM and kaizen as the lean manufacturing initiative is clearly reported. And the same lean tools are implemented in pump assembly of medium scale enterprises to identify and reduce the wastes during this case study. Here initially process path is visualized by drawn current value stream mapping (CVSM), after tracking the entire process wastes affecting the cycle time are identified and analyzed. In the next stage, the application of Kaizen principle to reduce the wastes in the process, then future state map is developed to analyze the previous cause for the waste development. This capability will definitely enable the considering enterprise to achieve cycle time reduction, competitive strength and productivity.

International supplier selection which includes different criteria can be regarded as a kind of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. By combining the analytic network process (ANP) with the Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method in hesitant fuzzy (HF) environment, this paper proposes a HF-ANP-VIKOR method. First, a novel HF-ANP approach is presented to determine the weight of each criterion. In this approach, the preference relations between criteria are hesitant fuzzy preference relations (HFPRs) whose elements are hesitant fuzzy elements (HFEs). According to the distance between two HFPRs, a new compatibility measure for HFPRs is proposed to measure the compatibility degrees of HFPRs. If the HFPRs are acceptable compatibility, they are converted into fuzzy preference relations by which the weights of sub-criteria are determined. Subsequently, extending the classical VIKOR method into HF environment, a new HF-VIKOR method is put forward to rank the alternatives. Finally, a case of Nantong uasia import and export limited company is studied to illustrate the practicability and effectiveness of the HF-ANP-VIKOR method proposed in this paper.

A large quantity of rice husk in Nigerian rice milling industries poses a serious environmental health hazards. Rice husk particleboard is therefore one of such material which may be considered a potential substitutes for woods-based board products. This study presents an experimental work which investigates the potentiality of rice husk in the production of particleboards using starch wood glue (Top bond) as an alternative source of adhesives. The weighing scale was used to weigh the rice husk, starch, wood glue (Top bond) the mixture ratio adopted being 0.75 kg: 0.15 kg: 0.10 kg of the rice husk, starch, wood glue respectively, thoroughly mixed manually by using the mixer. The mixture was then poured into a mould with a dimension 300 mm × 300 mm × 15 mm. The particleboard was compacted using a hydraulic press in two (2) compacts. The particleboard was tested for water absorption in both cold hot media. The cold absorption test was performed by immersing the composite sample was immersed into the cold water a period of 30mins, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h 8 h at room temperature (25°C) the thickness of the board. In hot absorption test, the composite sample was immersed into the hot water with temperature ranging 45°C, 65°C, 85°C and 100°C at constant time of period of 1hour the thickness of the board taken. The percentages of absorption were then calculated for both the cold the hot medium. The thickness of the particle board produced increases with an increasing time temperature for both the cold hot media water, until a point is reached when a saturation point is attained the board could no longer accommodate any more water. At this point the density remains constant. This value indicates that the board should be reserved for indoor application since percentage water absorption absorbed increases with increasing time of immersion. It is concluded that rice husk waste can be utilized in the manufacture of a water-resistant particleboard tropical area like Nigeria with long raining season. The use of starch, a biodegradable adhesive reduced the use of the more expensive synthetic adhesive based on petroleum resources. The test results showed that the rice husk, starch wood glue combination provides results which have high potential to be used in the production of particleboard.

Antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) has gained extensive attention in solar cells due to their potential as a low-cost and earth abundant absorber material. In solar cell absorber, the optoelectrical properties such as energy band gap and absorption coefficient of Sb2S3 play an important role, which have strong relationships with their crystal structure, lattice parameter and crystallite size. Hence in the present investigation, Sb2S3 powder samples were exposed to biofield treatment, and further its physical, structural and spectral properties are investigated. The particle size analysis showed larger particle size and surface area after treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed polycrystalline orthorhombic structure with superior crystallinity in treated Sb2S3 along with significant changes in the lattice parameters, which led to changes in unit cell volume and density. XRD data analysis indicates that crystallite size was increased by around 150% in treated sample. In FT-IR spectra, strong absorption band was observed at 400-700cm-1, which confirms the presence of Sb2S3. Further, the absorption peak intensity in IR spectra was significantly reduced after treatment that was probably due to change in metal sulphur dipolar interaction.

Barium titanate, perovskite structure is known for its high dielectric constant and piezoelectric properties, which makes it interesting material for fabricating capacitors, transducer, actuator, and sensors. The perovskite crystal structure and lattice vibrations play a crucial role in its piezoelectric and ferroelectric behavior. In the present study, the barium titanate powder was subjected to biofield treatment. Further, the control and treated samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and Electron spin resonance (ESR). The XRD analysis showed the permanent compressive strain of 0.45% in treated barium titanate powder as compared to control. Furthermore, the biofield treatment had enhanced the density upto 1.38% in barium titanate as compared to control. The FT-IR spectra showed that the stretching and bending vibrations of Ti-O bond in treated BaTiO3 were shifted towards lower frequency as compared to control. The bond length was substantially increased by 0.72 % in treated BaTiO3 as compared to control. The ESR spectra of control and treated BaTiO3 sample showed the g-factor of 2.0; and biofield treatment has substantially changed the width and height of ESR signal in treated BaTiO3 as compared to control. These observations revealed that biofield treatment has significantly altered the crystal structure, lattice strain, and bond vibration of barium titanate.

Information technology sector as we know is the fastest growing sectors in the world today. India is seeing a growth of nine percent. This emerging shift in Indian IT industry can be accounted to many factors such as the growth of Indian economy, the change in consumer’s attitude, the increase in per capita income and overall household income, and the influence of western culture, being a few of them. In today’s world organizations are improving the quality of services to maximize the profits by increasing the customer satisfaction through information technology. Organizations identify top service providers who can identify gaps in market and improve service provision and help them retain their customers. This paper is a review of few journals related to the use of SERVQUAL dimensions in information technology to improve service quality. Around 5 journal articles are closely reviewed related to service industry for the study. This study is to find out the methodology used in these journals related to IT. We are also interested to find out which dimensions of service quality have the greatest potential for improvement. These journals are analyzed which are published during the years from 2009-2014. This is because of service quality improvements and the latest research methodology used for information technology. SERVQUAL dimensions used in the service industry are studied which involves customer expected service and their perceptions. The objective of this literature review would be to investigate the Service quality research by examining and listing various factors of SERVQUAL dimensions mentioned in various journals study conducted in various countries and published in various types of journals over the past decade. Another objective would be to analyze the variables of these articles by year and type of journals to determine the various trends and to help researchers identify future directions of research in service quality. The review would help scholars and other practitioners in bringing new idea and improve the service quality. The findings from literature would include deep analysis in service quality dimensions by categorizing the customer perceived service quality and information service quality. Measurement using SERVQUAL and its numerous studies are discussed in this paper.